Pokémon GO's largest-ever real-world event, "GO Fest 2026: Tokyo," centered on Odaiba from May 29 to June 1, 2026. Tokyo Governor Koike made headlines by catching a Pokémon live during the press conference. Discover the world-first "City Exploration Ticket," event details, and what makes this 10th anniversary celebration truly historic.
Japan's anime market has reached a record $25 billion globally. While aggressive M&A deals by Sony, KADOKAWA, and others have fueled explosive overseas growth, questions remain about low animator wages, creative risk-taking, and whether the industry's real creators are seeing any of the profits. A deep dive into the boom's winners and losers.
At its first global showcase, Amazon Prime Video announced worldwide exclusives on three Japanese anime titles: a 40th-anniversary Fist of the North Star reboot, a new Ghost in the Shell TV series, and a fantasy sequel. What the deals say about Japanese IP in the streaming era.
Japanese actress-turned-producer MEGUMI has signed a multi-year exclusive deal with Netflix after her debut unscripted show "Badly in Love," a dating reality series built around Japan's yankee subculture, ranked No. 8 on Netflix's global charts. Explore how Japan's raw storytelling is captivating audiences worldwide.
In May 2026, "Zipangu," the largest Japanese-only music festival ever held on U.S. soil, brought Ado, Atarashii Gakko!, Chanmina, HANA, MAN WITH A MISSION, Yuki Chiba, and 10-FEET to a 35,000-capacity venue near the Rose Bowl in LA. Following K-pop's KCON model, J-pop is now building its own global showcase infrastructure. We explore what this historic event means for J-pop's international expansion.
Munetaka Murakami, Kazuma Okamoto and Tatsuya Imai all crossed the Pacific for the 2026 MLB season. Japan's most passionate and fickle online baseball community, "NanJ," made bold pre-season predictions for all three. Here they are, side by side with the actual numbers as of July 2026.
15 shows across five domes. About 490,000 fans. A new song called "Five", once a candidate for the group's name. The Kōhaku farewell that never was. And on May 31, 2026, at Tokyo Dome, ARASHI will close their 27-year story with their own hands. What they leave behind, what lives on, and the question they ask every fan. The final part of a 5-part series.
After the hiatus, five men walked separate paths — marriage, fatherhood, a samurai epic, an art-filled island retreat. Then came a company called "ARASHI Inc.," eighteen months of secret talks, and one video on May 6, 2025, where Ohno Satoshi showed his face for the first time in 1,587 days. Part 4 of a 5-part series.
Billboard Japan's "2025 Global Data Digest" analyzes Japanese music streaming data across 200+ countries. With J-POP holding a 2.52% global share (ranked 9th), the 71-page report examines how artists like Kenshi Yonezu and Creepy Nuts are breaking through internationally, the impact of anime tie-ups, and how world tours drive streaming numbers in different regions.
Multiple Spring 2026 anime have been delayed, yet Japanese fans are surprisingly optimistic. "Though I Am an Inept Villainess" now premieres in July, perfectly matching the story's timeline, while fans of "The Reincarnated Great Saint Hides Her Status" welcome the chance for higher quality. We explore the industry-wide labor shortage behind the delay trend.
Creator Shun Umezawa reveals the fascinating backstory behind Darwin's Incident characters. Discover how Billie Eilish's "bad guy" MV influenced Lucy's design, the philosophical origins of Charlie the Humanzee, and behind-the-scenes casting stories from the hit anime adaptation.